Fire and Ice
by Tahimikamaxtli
Summary: A long time ago, long before the Institute of War and the League of Legends, far in the frigid northern lands of the Freljord, something awoke: a fire that sought to set the world aflame with its fury and stand in the inferno of destruction that would follow. But the ice of the Freljord had other plans. It chose to rise, to face the fire with a burning coldness of its own.
1. Prologue: The Freljord

**Fire and Ice**

Prologue: The Freljord

The Freljord: a barren tundra of ice and snow, home to only the hardiest of animals and people, those who can bear the cold and the wind without complaint. Snowstorms howl daily across the land, tearing and biting at the landscape with a primal fury. Not many live in Freljord, and of those who do, few survive long. It is a harsh and unforgiving land where willpower matters as much warm clothes and food; a place that culls the weak from the strong, the followers from the leaders, the worthless from the worthy. It is a cold place, in many more ways than one. Here, a fire burns in the hearts of all things that live, giving them the fury needed to survive.

But there is another place, farther to the north, whose inhabitants are carved from the glaciers themselves: Lokfar. Here, ice-water runs in the veins of every creature, and their touch freezes the very air itself. Where these men and beasts tread, the ice follows. Warmth is a long forgotten memory here; here, all that is known is the numbing cold of the snowstorms and blizzards that rip across the land. If the Freljord is ice, then Lokfar is frost. Lokfar is the cold itself, whose frigid hands and fingers grip the lands with a frozen grip.

But there are other things in Lokfar. Darker things, things that should have been forgotten and locked away. Things that would threaten to burn the world down, starting with the frozen lands of the Freljord itself. A fire with a mind of own; one that seeks to brand the world with its burning vengeance.


	2. Chapter 1: Things Long Forgotten

Chapter 1: Things Long Forgotten

Nolan Thorgan was cold; then again, he had been cold all his life, so it was nothing new to him. Lokfar did not exactly promise warmth, and it had never occurred to him to ever try to leave the wretched place. His ancestors and their ancestors had lived here all their lives, and so, he would as well. His berserker outfit did little to guard against the biting winds and the bone-chilling cold, but to him, it was nothing.

He squinted against the snowstorm he was currently lost in, using his shield as a windbreaker. He and his men had been pillaging a nearby rival village when the snowstorm had come. It had come suddenly, blinding the world in a minute and covering the world in snow faster than one would think possible.

He stumbled blindly through the knee high snow, fighting against the fury of Mother Nature. He knew he needed to find shelter, but since he had no idea where he was, he doubted he would have much success.

He was, first and foremost, angry. Not scared that he might die here in this blizzard, but that if he were to die, he would be forgotten. And what a shame that would be! To be forgotten, to have all his tales of plunder and glorious battle go unsung merely because he did not die a warrior's death!

Nolan gave an angry roar, lost in the howl of the storm. He would not die here. Fueled by a renewed vigor, he trundled through the snow faster than ever. He looked around through narrowed, snow-clouded eyes. There!

Far off in the distance, he could see a large stone jutting out of the snow-packed earth. It seemed to lead into a much larger cave, one that was probably hidden deep within the earth. Nolan did not care. He forced his way through the snow, using his shield to clear his path. When he arrived at the stone, he realized it was far larger than he had thought. It was at least three times his height, and nearly four times as wide. But like he had thought, it did seem to be a cave that would lead deep within the earth.

Also, it was blocked.

A large wall stones prevented his entrance into the cave. Nolan gave an angry growl deep in his bearded throat. Damned if he was going to let a bunch of stones get in his way of a warriors death! As he looked up, intent on pulling down the stones one by one, etchings on the rock overhead caught his eye.

Nolan was not the most educated, but even he knew what those markings meant. _Danger. Keep out. Do not enter._ He paused and deep within his mind, memories stirred. Memories of when he had been a boy, sitting on his mother's lap and listening to the tales that his grandmother would tell.

He had heard of this cave. Or at least, one like it. He knew the stories: a long time ago, a time when his ancestors had felt deep magic tear through the lands far away and shake the earth beneath their feet, something had come. It had come from the lands to the south, blown on winds of fire and smoke. It had ravaged the land, burning and cracking the earth with flame. The greatest warriors of the tribes had come together, their rivalries forgotten, in order to protect everything that they knew. These warriors were as skilled with the old, forgotten magic as they were with weapons, and together, they had managed to subdue the thing, trapping it deep within the icy ground. In a cave just like this. They had marked the cave with warnings, making sure the stories were repeated in order to avoid ever releasing the thing that had nearly burned the world they knew.

For a moment, Nolan was afraid. What if this was that cave? But his fear lasted only a moment, pushed away by the hot-blooded anger of his people. His inner berserker scoffed at that part of him which was afraid, and Nolan tore the stones down angrily. He pulled enough stones down to make a hole large enough for him, and stepped inside.

And promptly fell, the world going dark as he landed roughly onto his back.

* * *

When he awoke again, the world was dark. He blinked, giving his eyes time to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, he realized where he was; he was at the bottom of the cave he had entered. How far he had fallen, he did not know, but his back hurt from the impact, so he assumed it had been very far down. Far down enough so that, even when he looked up, he could see no sign of the outside world, or the storm that raged above him.

He stood gingerly, feeling around blindly. After much time stumbling around, he realized something: the cave he was in was large, enough to fill his entire company of marauders comfortably, which was more than 20 strong. He waddled over to where he thought the center of the cave was.

He reached deep within his berserker skins, feeling around for the batch of tinder that every smart berserker kept with them. Placing it on the floor, he lit it. Squinting against the harsh light of the fire he had started, he looked around.

And jumped as he realized he was not alone.

Well, to be fair, a charred, shrunken body did not count as a person, so technically, he was still alone. It was propped up against a wall, its blackened skin nearly indistinguishable from the dark rock behind it. Its hands were bound at its sides, and it grinned at Nolan with empty, shrunken eyes and blackened teeth.

Nolan felt the anger come again. Why had he been afraid of a corpse? He had seen far worse in his lifetime; men gored by ice boars, others with arms that had been hacked off in battle. No way should a burnt corpse scare him.

But it did. And he could not explain why. Perhaps because he got the feeling that it was not really dead. Just sleeping. As he watched it, it seemed to move suddenly. And then the fire went out.

Nolan swore loudly in the darkness. Something had put out his fire! Stumbling back to where he had left the cinders, he blew on them until they began to smolder again. Soon, the fire had returned, and Nolan looked back at the corpse.

And jumped again. _It had gotten closer._ If he had to hasten a guess with his now positively frightened mind, it seemed to be attracted to the fire. And as he looked at it, he realized something. A small light had appeared in its chest, glowing dully in the dark of the cave. As though the corpse were aflame from the inside. Nolan shuffled quickly away from the corpse, uneasy.

And then it happened again. The fire went out, and this time, Nolan swore that it had been sucked into the corpse. With fumbling hands, he lit the fire again. _The corpse was even closer now._ The light in its chest was brighter now, and veins of fire had appeared across its body. Nolan knew it was only his imagination, but it seemed as though the corpse had grown, appearing less shrunken than before. It _was_ just his imagination, right? Nolan did not realize how close he had come to the fire, and with a shout, realized his pants were on fire. Swearing, he slapped at them until the fire extinguished. When he looked at the corpse again, he shouted in a horrified surprise.

It had managed to stand, and was watching him with fire-filled eyes. There was no denying it now: its body had filled out somehow, and now it was the same size as Nolan himself. Its skin was blackened and burned, with lines of fire running across its body like markings. Nolan stumbled back as fast as he could on his hands, his back hitting the edge of the wall. The thing seemed to take a deep breath, and as it did so, the fire that Nolan had started grew in size and brightness.

Then it spoke. And it was as if the very fire were speaking, its voice crackling with a malevolent, insidious glee.

"_I have returned. They could not cage me forever!" _It gave a horrible, malicious laugh as it turned its eyes on Nolan. _"Tell me, what is your name?"_

Nolan spoke as if compelled. "N-Nolan Thorgan."

"_Nolan… Well, Nolan, I thank you. Without your help, I could have stayed locked in here for millennia. But now, I am free! Answer me this: am I still in Lokfar, or has the name of this wretched place changed?"_

Nolan shook his head. "No, this is Lokfar."

"_Ahh… so it hasn't been that long… excellent. I would like the descendants of those who locked me away to know my fury."_

Nolan listened to the thing's words with a detached horror. It spoke of death and destruction easily, as if it were as simple as breathing. As he sat propped against the wall of the cave, the thing began to examine itself, running glowing hands over its arms and chest.

"_This body's no good…" _it muttered to itself. _"Almost all burned out. Need a new one soon."_ Then it turned its eyes on Nolan. Nolan swallowed.

"_Tell me, Nolan. Do you dream of battle?"_

Nolan nodded dumbly. The thing gave a fiery grin.

"_I thought so. All you Lokfarians are the same. Well then, how would you like to serve me and be remembered as the warrior who destroyed the world?"_

The thing's words enticed him. How could he resist? The chance to be remembered as the destroyer of the world was too much. He nodded.

The thing's smiled widened. _"Excellent. Yours will be a good body." _

Too late, Nolan realized what it meant. He screamed as the thing rushed at him, and the world disappeared in a confusion of fiery pain, smoke, and bright light.

* * *

Nolan's body belonged to the thing now, and it stood examining itself. Now, Nolan's body was blackened like the one that had come before it, his clothes all but burned off. Only his berserker's pants remained, and even those were stiffened by the heat. The thing took a deep, crackling breath.

"_Good… good…" _it said slowly, _"This body is strong. It will last me…"_

It raised a hand, and fire appeared above its palm, dancing.

"_Now then," _it said to itself, _"Shall we begin?"_


End file.
